Plaiter



(No Model.)

J. C. HEDGES. l

, lPL'AITER. No.` 532,199. Patented Jan. 8, 1895.

7W@ mn (75:57' @ya TN: norms PETERS co. worum-m0 wAsmNsToN, u. c.

STATES PATENT OFF ICE.

JOHN CLINTON HEDGES, OF EL PASO, ILLINOIS.

PLAITER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 532,199, dated January8, 1895. Application filed March 5, 1894. Serial No. 502,'76. (Nomodel.)

Tn all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, JOHN CLINTON I-IEDGES, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at El Paso, in the county of Woodford and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Plaiters;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in plaiters and has for itsobject to provide a simple, cheap and effective plaiter to be used byhand and capable of easy adjustment.

In the drawings presented herewith and forming part of this application,Figure l is a plan view of the plaiter ready for use. Fig. 2 is also aplan view of the plaiter shown unlocked or ready for adjustment. Fig. 3is a perspective View of the plaiter showing its application or firststage of forming of plait. Fig. 4. is also a perspective view of thedevice showing a second position. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of thedevice (in part) showing a last position of forming a single plait. Fig.

. 6 is a perspective View of a portion of the plaiter shown in bothsolid and broken lines and representing the method of using the plaiterin forming a box plait.

The plaiter is made of two pieces of spring wire of suitable size and ofabout the form shown in the figures, and consisting of a centraltransverse portion A having at one end the arm D at substantially rightangles thereto and at the other end a coil C and an arm B extendingtherefrom and substantially parallel with the arrnD, The said arm Bterminatesin a hook E, and the other spring wire is loosely coiled aboutthe transverse portion A and comprises the arms H and F substantiallyparallel with the arms D and B of the other spring wire and the arm F isadapted to engage wi th the hook E of the arm B before described.

The device is capable of easy adjustment as may be readily seen, wherebyany width of plait may be formed. x

When the device is unlocked, the wire F may be readily passed back andforth on the wire A as shown by dotted lines a and b but when the deviceis locked as shown in Fig. l, the spring portion B and wire F are sprungtoward each other in the locking and this causes/the coil or spiral G ofthe wire F to bind on thewire A making the said wire F almost immovableuntil again unlocked. The wire F forms a spring of itself which by thespring formed by the spiral C and portion B makes a very positive lockfor the device.

The mode of using the plaiter is best understood by reference tothe-drawings in :which Fig. 3 shows the method of inserting the portionH under the edge of the material to be plaited while Fig. I shows theportion D brought down upon the cloth beyond the portion H after whichthe said portion H is raised carrying the cloth upward and over theportion D and finally laid dat upon the cloth as shown in Fig. 5,leaving a single plait. The plaiter is then withdrawn while the clothislirmly held beneath the fingers and passed through the machine to stitchthe edge at the dotted line a: x. In forming a box plait the portion I-Iis inserted under the cloth and thrown over to the left and withdrawnand is again passed under the cloth to the right of the plait justformed and is then carried over to the right, forming the box plait allof which is shown in Fig. 6.

The device may be varied to some extenty and still acquire the samegeneral results.

What Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A plaiter constructed of two spring wires, one of which wires comprisesa central transverse portion A having at one end the arm D atsubstantially right angles thereto, and at `the other enda coil C and anarm Bextending therefromand substantially parallel with the arm D, saidarm B terminating in the hook E, the other spring wire being looselycoiled about the `transverse portion A and c0mprising the arms H. and Fsubstantially parallel with theV arms D and B of the'other spring wire,the arm F being adapted to engage with the hook E of the arm B for thepurposes set forth.

presenceof two witnesses.

JOHN CLINTON IIEDGES.

Witnesses:

W. H. CRAIG, `J. R. Lorr.

In testimony whereof I affix my signaturein v

